Poonam Bir Kasturi

Founder, Daily Dump

 
Poonam is an Industrial designer, facilitator, entrepreneur and mentor.  She graduated from
the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad India in 1986, specialising in Product Design.
 
Product Design
She began her career designing and prototyping a variety of products that include a
Centralized Lubrication
System, an Industrial Water Purifier, and a Public Telephone Booth. In this period of her
career, she also
managed Sur Engineering – a family firm manufacturing machine tools.
 
Workshops, teaching, education
Poonam has conducted several workshops on Art and Creativity and Innovation for a variety
of audiences –
from school children to corporate executives. Organisations that engaged Poonam in this area
include
Mallya Aditi International School (Bangalore), Newspapers in Education, Verifone, Wipro,
Sun Microsystems and ITC.
 
Poonam is passionate about young people. Poonam is one of the founding faculty at Srishti
School of Art, Design and Technology Bangalore. Apart from designing and delivering
cutting-edge programmes for Srishti’s design students (Foundation programme, Design Lab,
Design for Community and Self, (Unlearning), Poonam has also facilitated and managed
student interactions with craftspeople, NGOs, industry/ corporates, academics from national
and international design schools, government and other stakeholders. She currently holds the
position of Visionary-in-residence at Srishti. She also consults with other educational
institutions like Riverside School in Ahmedabad and is currently putting together a Business
Design programme with a team at Prin L N Welingkar Institute of Management Development
and Research, Mumbai.
 
Entrepreneurship
As an entrepreneur she founded IndusTree Crafts in the early 90’s, and another company –
Playnspeak – in
2000. IndusTree Crafts works with craftspeople to design, manufacture and retail/ export
Indian crafts for
contemporary customers. Playnspeak offers craft-based products for the home and office,
products that
poke fun at the values and ways of human beings, and also products that provoke reflection.
 
Design and Development
Since 2000, Poonam has spent a lot of time (amongst other things) writing papers on Design
and how it
impacts Development. Her continuing interest in the field has enabled her to speak at, design
and conduct workshops and seminars for people from varied backgrounds – students,
designers, NGOs and the government. She is also on the board of a trust called DESI which
works in the area of livliehood generation in rural Karnataka.
 
Daily Dump
Her latest project – Daily Dump – involves the design, manufacture, distribution and
servicing products related to home composting. This is a product – service system which is
based on an open-source platform and is meant to encourage micro-enterprise formation and
collaborative product development. It uses craft skills to address a primarily urban issue.
Daily Dump’s purpose is to reduce the waste generated by households, and thus reduce the
pressure on the already-far-from-perfect public waste management systems. Daily Dump has
been selected as one of the “Top Nominees” for the INDEX Design award 2007.
 
Poonam lives in Bangalore, with her husband Anand, and works out of her studio (popularly
know as ‘the shed’) sharing the space with students, terracotta composters and the spirit of
the raintree that is the canopy of this space.
 
 
Poonam Bir Kasturi, a Bangalore-based NID graduate, introduces composting in terracotta
vessels – a simple and sustainable way of managing waste from the very comfort of your
home.

Genesis of the innovation

It might seem surreal to get people to do away with the good old trashcans and buy a pot
worth Rs. 600 for disposing garbage. However, that is exactly what Poonam Bir Kasturi, the
woman behind the Bangalore-based startup Daily Dump has been up to for the past one and a
half years.

Poonam’s terracotta vessels are designed to convert household waste into useful high-quality,
nutrient rich manure. Ask her what made her come up with such a concept, and she says, “An
average urban citizen generates over half a kilogram of solid waste everyday, which is
disposed off without being segregated. People want to make a significant contribution
towards reducing landfill waste, and they look for a simple way to do so. Replacing dustbins
with these pots is an easy solution for customers to do their share of environmental friendly
work.”
An alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Poonam’s knowledge of design also
contributed in the shaping of the vessel. “Design as a process thinking tool is extremely
powerful. I would constantly ask myself, ‘How can design impact everyday life?’, ‘Can it be
an enabler for a dignified individual action?’ ‘Is there an alternative to this obsessive
consumerism?’ It is after having many such discussions with friends and my students at the
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, that the idea evolved,” she says. After testing
many different materials, Poonam concluded that terracotta is the best for decomposition.
“Plastic failed miserably,” says Poonam.

Implementation of the idea

Poonam made an initial investment of Rs 400,000 to set up the business. This included the
cost of researching, getting the material, prototyping, publishing hand manuals that
accompany the product, etc. The project has been completely funded by Poonam herself. As
she puts it, “I do not want to sign for a grant or a loan, because I want to prove in some way
that it is not always about the money or a business model, it is about intentions.”

How did she implement the program and get the word across? She claims that a clear vision,
correct platform and proper packaging are all it takes to build an intrinsic value and to
disseminate information. In Poonam’s case, her Website (dailydump.org), which cost her
around Rs 200,000, played a great role in implementing the project. “I don’t advertise for my
products so most of the publicity happens through the Website. You can put up a lot of
knowledge; you can direct people, and use it as a central force,” she claims.
Thanks to their beautiful designs, these vessels
can be placed anywhere from the garden, kitchen
or even the entrance of the house. Also, there is a
wide range of products, including the gamla, patta
kambha, leave-it-pot, kambha and mota lota, from
which the customers can choose. Miniature sets
for kids, aprons, rakes, spoons and spatulas are
available as well.

For customers who don’t have the time or are

unsure about how to begin with the composting
process at home, Daily Dump offers service plans
where someone from the team comes on a weekly
basis to help with the maintenance. “Our fastest
moving product, the kambha costs Rs 600. The
cost of other vessels and accessories ranges from
Rs 50-500, depending on the size and if someone
wants a specific design, there is an extra project
cost. The cost of the service plan is Rs 2,000,” claims Poonam.

Challenges en route
One of the initial conflicts Poonam faced was to come to terms with the decision to make
Daily Dump an open-source idea, i.e., to allow other players to venture into it and not patent
it. Her friends thought that she was impractical in doing so and she was told that it is a
complete do-gooder scheme and not a viable business proposition. Poonam, however,
decided to march on. “I have just leveraged my expertise and haven’t put a cost to it.
Business analysts might think that my business model is all wrong, but I look at it as enabling
several others to make money from my ideas,” says Poonam. She even helps her clones in
setting up the business, locating the suppliers, and gives technical assistance related to
composting. The first slot of material can be obtained for free from Daily Dump.

On asked whether an open-source idea actually translates to increased competition, she

comments, “Do you know how many people we need in this business before the waste is
going to disappear from the society? Even if there are five clones of Daily Dump in
Bangalore, the problem is so enormous, it won’t suffice.” Daily Dump has clones in
Hyderabad and Chennai and more are expected to start up in Delhi, Pune and Chandigarh.
There are clones in Dubai, Israel and China who have taken assistance from Poonam in
setting up their business as well. The model is being replicated even in Florida. “I love the
fact that I am a woman living in a developing country, working with completely low tech
ideas, addressing a real urban problem and enabling someone in Florida to make money. Just
the thought of it is so exciting,” says Poonam.

Is it a profitable business? According to Poonam, an investment of Rs 50, 000 can ensure a

business that makes profits, within three months. She adds, “Although my time is not paid for
and I have to find another revenue source to compensate, everything else, including my team
of service employees, potters, and experts, are paid for by the sales of the product. I can still
say that it has been highly profitable for me. I have made a lot of friends and get a lot of
fulfillment when I sleep, being involved with such a good cause.”

Making it future perfect

Poonam is currently working on designing a mechanical composting device, which she
dreams would one day be fitted into everyone’s house and it would become like second
nature for people to use it. “Firstly, architectural solutions are required to execute this project.
Secondly, I need money to travel to places in India and abroad, to show the product to people,
as well as to educate them about composting. This, combined with a two-minute spoof on
composting by a Rajnikant or Amitabh Bachchan, aired free on a Star TV or Zee, and I’ll feel
like I have really achieved something,” she says. Again, she plans to make this an open
source idea for small fabricators all over the country to start replicating.

Whether it is constructing green buildings, using CFL lamps, driving eco-friendly vehicles or
something as simple as replacing plastic bags with those made out of paper; everyone seems
to be doing their bit to become a responsible, environment-friendly citizen. Poonam, by
offering a range of composting products and flexible service plans to households is not only
doing her bit, but has also paved the way for about a 1100 customers, based in Bangalore and
Chennai, towards becoming green citizens.

One question that you would perhaps like to answer is “How do I reduce my contribution to
the city’s garbage system without altering my lifestyle too much?” Well, let Daily Dump
answer that for you.
Daily Dump provides a commercial compost ‘pit’ that you can have at your home. All your
leftovers and other organic waste can be dumped into these pits. Within a few months this
becomes manure and you can use it for your garden or just sell it off to a needy farmer
maybe.
Early Days
Daily Dump, the brain child of Ms Poonam Bir Kasturi, evolved from the question – How
can design make a difference? Poonam graduated in Product Design in 1985 from the
National Institute of Design. She worked in a small scale manufacturing company after
college and then set up a craft based design company called Industree with two other
partners. She quit after 5 years and set up Playnspeak, a proprietorship concern, to make
products for the home. At the same time Poonam also was the founding faculty of Srishti
School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore which she in May 2008 to start Daily
Dump.
So, what exactly is Daily Dump?
In simple words, this product allows every homeowner to reduce their contribution to city
waste. In India, no commerical home composter was available till the Daily Dump product
was launched.
It is designed for a single family as the “customer”. It is supported by a service backup and
customer support. It actually helps families convert their wet waste into eco-friendly
compost. The knowledge base is open-source to encourage micro-enterprises.
How to start Daily Dump-ing?
1. Order a Daily Dump composting product from the address given below.
2. Install it in your home
3. Start putting all your organic waste in this compost pot.
4. Rejoice in having reduced the burden on your city’s waste management system!
The Product and its elements
Daily Dump has designed a product with which anyone can convert kitchen waste into
compost at home. The product, made of terra-cotta, is sourced from village potters. It is
marketed through word-of-mouth referrals, media awareness, and their website. It is sold
through channels including individuals, retail stores, and societies. The designs are ‘open
source’, so individuals in other locations can replicate, adapt, build on, sell and use – for wide
and rapid propagation of the idea.
The current product works well in independent homes; and they are working on a
‘mechanical composter’ for use in flats. Daily Dump’s vision is to see a composter pre-fitted
in every flat sold in the country, as a standard fitting. Daily Dump not only retro fits
composters at homes and other establishments but also provides maintenance advice and
assistance through its service plans, essentially allowing you to just dump and letting nature
and Daily Dump do the rest.
Product Range
This product, in addition to reducing waste, serves as a way to get over the social stigma
attached to waste in our country. Without being preachy it makes the job of taking care of
your waste “doable” and “possible”.
The potters who make the terra cotta pots have benefited significantly – their profitability has
increased since they started making these products.
The Team
The current Daily Dump team comprises of:
Poonam Bir Kasturi (Founder), Delara Damania (Designer), Savitha, Shwetha, Vinita, Trupti,
Sudheer and Anupama
Current Challenges
The challenge faced by the team presently is to create sustainable revenue streams and make
money out of all the research and design work that they have done. The team has also learnt a
lot and is looking to partner with NGO’s now to make strategic connections to enable waste
to be managed better all over the country. Daily Dump has a robust design and an easily
replicable one, which can be adapted by most people all over India.
Looking forward, Daily Dump is in the process of prototyping a mechanical composter to be
retrofitted into homes in India. For this, they are looking to work with builders and see if this
product can then enter into every home as a standard fitting.
The Daily Dump team is constantly trying to figure out:
 How to get builders to retrofit a composter in each balcony and utility?
 How to design a new mechanical composter such that it follows the cradle to cradle
philosophy and yet is cheap and fits into the informal manufacturing setup that dots the
Indian urban landscape?
Recognition
Daily Dump has received the following awards & honors:
 “Nominated for the INDEX awards 2007 – an international award to improve the
quality of life
 Awarded the Green Product of the Year by Anchor Better Interior Excellence Awards
2007
 Made it to the final round of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups 2009.
 Indira International Innovation’s ‘Star Entrepreneur of the Year Award’, 2009
 Made it to the final round of the Sankalp Social Enterprise and Investment Forum
Award 2009.

 Contact and get your Daily Dump today

E-mail: dailydumpcompost@gmail.com
Phone: +91 80 41152288
Website: www.dailydump.org